Atomic Blonde Review: Wickedly Violent, But Thin On Story

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In Atomic Blonde, we first meet Lorraine Broughton, the MI-6 agent played by Charlize Theron, as she rolls over in an ice filled bathtub covered from head to toe in wicked bruising. No fuss, no muss — she is as battle-damaged as they come, but she’s chilling down under ice and then climbs out to knock back an iced glass of Stoli vodka.

Coming from John Wick director David Leitch, the film is about as subtle as a Stasi interrogation. It doesn’t have a lot of elegance in its storyline; however, if elaborate and incredibly wicked close-quarters fighting is your jam, then this film will probably one of the highlights of your year.

Set in 1989 during the last days of the cold war, Lorraine has been called in to head to East Berlin to try to recover a stolen who’s who list of top agents. Meeting up with another agent, David Percival (played by James McAvoy), they have to wade through various thugs, henchmen, and agents. The fact that his name is Percival should give another hint that subtlety isn’t really one of the film’s strong suits. It touches on most of the standard Soviet-era spy caper tropes, so there’s little real surprise on how it plays out. It tries to throw in various misdirections on the “guess the double-agent,” so for people new to the genre there might be a surprise along the way, so it gets some points for the effort.

Where the film really stands out, however is in the elaborate fight scenes. There’s a nearly five-minute scene that goes from hallway to room to alley to car chase in nearly a single extended shot. Nearly realistic hand-to-hand combat to the death is an ugly affair at the best of times, and here it’s ugly and brutal. People don’t go down in a single blow; they fight every step of the way. Theron finally gets to utilize a stiletto heel in the way the name implies. She also did most of her own stunts and fight scenes, so additional kudos to her. If we thought Furiosa was badass, Lorraine solidifies Theron as the 21st-century action hero to beat (of either gender).

Atomic Blonde was directed by David Leitch and written by Kurt Johnstad, based on a graphic novel series by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. Starring Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, Sofia Boutella, Eddie Marsan, John Goodman. 115 minutes. R (sequences of strong violence, language throughout, some sexuality/nudity).

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